


Mama Bozer

by M_Mary93



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: ACL, ACL injury, Crutches, Fluffy, Hurt, Hurt!Mac, Hurt/Comfort, Ma JDalton, Mama Bozer, Mama!Bozer, PCL, PCL injury, Pain, Surgery, knee brace, knee injury, overprotective!Bozer, request
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-02 22:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8685385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Mary93/pseuds/M_Mary93
Summary: Request fic, originally posted on ff.net for AinsleyWright.  Description of request inside, but general: Mac gets injured, Bozer goes all Mama Bear on him... (AKA Mama Bozer)Fic is set after 1x08 "Corkscrew" So... Bozer knows...





	1. Ice

**Author's Note:**

> So… I got this request from AinsleyWright
> 
> Hi, i just read The SOB broke my hand and wondered if you take request? I had this idea based off of the fic when you said Mama Bozer. I think that would be a fun fan fiction to read when Mac gets hurt and Bozer goes all mama bear on him.
> 
> I had a plan to make a chapter like that, but of course I’ll write a separate fic since someone asked…
> 
> I asked her about if she had any preferences, but all she really asked was that Mac would have difficulty moving around… And that he should be in pain, not a massive amount of pain, but in pain…
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy…

 

“You need help with the door?” Bozer asked about ready to lift Mac out of the car.

“No, Bo…” Mac said as he opened the door himself. Then he grabbed a hold of the brace holding his leg still and maneuvered his leg out the door. His shoulders were tense as he started to push himself to a standing position.

“Steady there…” Bozer’s hands were just a few inches away from Mac’s chest. Ready to catch him if he was about to fall over. “Sure you don’t want me to drive over to the Phoenix Foundation and get a wheelchair for you?”

“Yes, I’m sure…” Mac sighed as he adjusted his crutches. When he figured he was as comfortable as he would get, he stared down at Bozer. “But I need you to move so I can walk to the house…”

“How are your leg feeling?”

“Don’t feel much at all…” Mac rolled his eyes, he recognized what Bozer was doing. He had kicked into Mama Bozer gear, and Mac would suffer the consequences. “Good ol’ doctor shot me up with a good doze of something… ”

It was a bit of a lie, his knee throbbed like crazy. But he wasn’t about to let Bozer in on that information. Not before it was necessary.  

“You should be taking it easy, Mac…”

“It’s only 34 yards from here and to our couch… I can’t take it much easier…”

“You want me to make you waffles?”

“Bozer…” Mac forced himself to stay calm, Bozer was just trying to take care of him… “Can you give me some room so that I can get to the house?”

Bozer stepped back and watched Mac struggle towards the front door. But he was by Mac’s side in an instant when Mac hissed out in pain. One hand on Mac’s back, the other one pressing up against his chest…

“Dude, are you alright?”

“Yeah… yeah…” Mac answered with a grimace on his face. “Just bumped into the root… Forgot it was there…”

“I can carry you the rest of the way…” Bozer offered.

“Think it’s safer for me to just walk, thanks…” Mac cleared his throat and continued to struggle towards the entrance door.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

As soon as Mac passed the doorsill, Bozer rushed past him and arranged the pillows on the couch.

“Come here, sit down…”

“I was on my way…” Mac breathed heavy as he balanced towards the furniture. “It was my plan all along…”

Bozer nodded. Then he pushed the table away from the couch, making room for MacGyver to get down on the couch.

Mac finally reached the couch, but froze as Bozer placed a hand on his back.

“What are you doing?”

“Thought you might need a little help to sit down…”

Mac looked at Bozer, debating how far past his personal space Bozer had pushed.

“Well, I don’t…” he finally said, “But you can hold my crutches…”

Bozer nodded and held his hands out to take the crutches once Mac gave them to him.

“Sure you don’t need…”

“Bozer, I’m good!” Mac basically growled as he started to lower himself onto the couch. “I’ve been on crutches before… Worse injuries than this too!”

Bozer cast a glance at Mac’s stiff leg, the black brace locked straight. His lips quivered as his eyes flicked back and forth.

“But…”

“Bozer, I’m fine…” Well, he would be… Eventually…

“But Mac…”

“I’ve had worse, doctor said I probably didn’t need surgery…”

“He didn’t see what happened!” Bozer almost screamed back. The image of how Mac’s leg had folded sideways danced vividly in his mind.

“My leg only wobbled a bit… Probably stretched something… Nothing I can’t handle…”

“Your leg was as straight as Neil Patrick Harris and John Barrowman combined…”

Mac rolled his eyes as he lifted the brace and his leg up on the couch. “Well, it wasn’t dislocated… So all is good…”

“I’m pretty sure it was dislocated…” Bozer frowned, “Just popped back in before you could look at it…”

“Bozer…”

“Yeah…”

“It’s been too long since I told you that you worry too much, hasn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“YOU WORRY TOO MUCH!” Mac announced, speaking every word slow and loud. Begging Bozer to understand that it made him a bit uncomfortable.

“But the sound it made!”

“I didn’t hear anything…”

“It sounded like 300 people cracking their knuckles at once!” Bozer gestured wildly, “There is no way everything is as it should be inside that knee of yours!”

“Bozer, Jack can tell you that what happened back there was nothing compared to at least twelve of the missions we’ve had together… Relax, it’s just a couple of weeks and I’ll be up and running again…”

“Jack didn’t see what I saw!” Bozer said, putting his hands to his sides.

Mac no longer could resist the urge to push Bozer. He leaned forward and shoved Bozer backwards. The only thing he accomplished was to make his own leg light up with pain, and he couldn’t help the gasp escaping from his lips either. And of course Bozer noticed.

“Mac, you alright buddy?” his hand was resting on Mac’s shoulder. Mac was doubled over, his hands folded around his swollen knee… His eyes were watering, and his air was caught in his chest.

“Mac?”

It took a good minute before Mac moved. When he did, his cheeks were wet from silent tears, and pain was drawn across his young features.

“How can I help?”

Mac shook his head and dried his face on his shirtsleeve.

“Ice?” Bozer’s head snapped towards the freezer. “You should probably put some ice on that…”

Before Mac had the chance to say or do anything, Bozer was fishing out a bag of frozen vegetables out of the freezer. The bag was marked with a big sharpie ‘X’, which in their household meant ‘NOT-for-eating’. He beat the bag against the counter a few times, crushing the solid lumps of ice which had formed after a couple of times being re-frozen.

“Over or under?” he asked when he reached Mac on the couch.

Mac grimaced, and started lifting his leg by the brace. “Under…”

Bozer grabbed a hold of Mac’s heel, as he placed the frozen bag under Mac’s knee. Then he helped Mac lower the leg down on top of the cold peas.  

“Thanks…” Mac whispered, his hands hovering near his knee.

“Think we have a few more dead pea-bags in the freezer…” Bozer prompted, “You want one on top too?”

“It’s not necessary…”

“I’m getting you a second bag…” Bozer declared as he headed for the freezer again…

He crushed it up, and molded it over Mac’s knee. The blond drew a sharp breath as the cold bag was placed over his swollen knee.

“Sorry, man…” Bozer whispered, nudging Mac’s shoulder.

“I’m fine…” Mac bit out through gritted teeth, “But thanks…”

“You want anything to eat?”

Mac shrugged, “Not all that hungry…”

“Okay… I get that, you’re in pain.” Bozer drummed his fingers on the back of the couch, “You rest for a while, just tell me if you want me to put on a movie…”

Mac shook his head.

“Okay… But hey… No more parkour for you for a while… Okay?”

Mac smirked, “I can’t walk… I think parkour is a little outside my reach at the moment…”

“Anything you need?”

Mac shrugged, sitting still with an injured leg was going to be a bore… But moving around felt like knives digging into his knee, even with the brace immobilizing his leg.

“A book?”

Bozer nodded. “Which book?”

“Any… Just pick one off the bookshelf…”

“Fiction or something tech-y?”

Mac shrugged, “Surprise me…”

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Five minutes later Bozer returned, balancing five books.

“Here, choose…”

“Thanks man…”

 


	2. You're the best!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so… Looks like you liked the last chapter. Good for me!  
> Here comes the next… Hope you enjoy!

Mac had been resting for about ten minutes when he started itching to move around. The most annoying disadvantage that came along with his over-active imagination, and his hyper-focus was also a good portion of hyperactivity.

He knew it, he managed to use it as an advantage. Most times…

But it SUCKED when his leg hurt and was in a brace, and he had orders to sit still and rest.

His good leg bounced up and down on the floor, letting him blow off the bare minimum of excess energy he had built up.

He placed his hands on the back of the couch and on the armrest, ready to pull himself up straighter.

He only got an inch further up before the pain grew too much. He fell back against the couch with a yelp of pain. His right hand came down to rub his thigh, a few inches above the kneecap. He didn’t dare to touch the joint itself, it would probably be filled with fluid and painful…

“Shit, Mac! Are you okay?” Bozer jogged over to the couch. “Are you hurt?”

“Not more than earlier…” Mac muttered and scowled down at the brace. “Just tried to sit up a little straighter, but the leg wouldn’t let me…”

Mac crossed his arms over his chest and looked like an annoyed teenager, not too far from the truth…

“If I guide your leg? Would that do it?”

Mac stared at his leg for a few seconds, before he nodded. “Think so…”

Bozer stood behind the couch, slipped one hand under Mac’s ankle, and was about to place his second hand under Mac’s knee…

“Don’t!” a hint of fear laced Mac’s voice as he called out.

Bozer stopped dead in his tracks.

“Please don’t touch my knee… Place your hand a little below my knee, right where my calf is thickest…”

Bozer nodded and did as he was told. “Like this?”

Mac nodded.

“Now, on three, I’m gonna slide back, you just follow on…” Mac instructed.

Bozer nodded again.

“Okay, one, two… three…”

Mac fought the urge to cry. He didn’t want to let Bozer know just how bad his leg was hurting, cause it would probably be over in a week… He’d had all sorts of injuries before, and he usually bounced back fast after them...

He almost didn’t notice how Bozer made sure to move the improvised ice-bags, or that his friend fluffed up the pillows supporting his messed up leg.

“Thanks Bozer…” Mac exhaled, his eyes fixed on the swollen knee.

“No problem, Mac…” Bozer said, ruffling Mac’s hair. “Can we agree on no moving around, unless I’m helping you?”

Mac shook his head.

“Okay, but please call for me whenever you need something…” Bozer scratched his neck, “I’m in my room, writing…”

Mac shrugged, not really committing to anything.

“Just, you know… Yell my name or text me if there is anything I can do… Much better than you hurting yourself.”

“Okay, sure… I’ll do that…” Mac couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes. “But you do know I’m not invalid, don’t you?”

“Of course… Only a bum knee…”

Mac nodded, somewhat pleased with himself.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Bozer entered the living room two hours later to find Mac asleep on the couch. His blond friend had his leg propped up on a mountain of pillows, and his right arm was stretched out towards his bad leg. His other arm acted as a blind, covering his eyes.

He walked over to the couch and checked the ‘ice-bags’, they were thawed. As careful as he could, he lifted the top pea-bag off Mac’s knee, mentally high-fiving himself when his friend stayed asleep. He considered taking the one trapped under Mac’s knee too, but figured that he would have to move Mac’s leg to get it. And then Mac would wake up…

Walking over to the freezer, Bozer gave the vegetables a good shake. The peas would probably freeze to a solid form, so he should try to remember to shake it up after about an hour...

He took out a new bag with ‘dead’ vegetables, and placed the used one where it had laid earlier.

He shook the bag until it felt fairly lump-free, and walked over to Mac again. Carefully he eased the cold bag down over his knee. On top of the sweatpants, trapped under the brace. Mac didn’t wake up…

Bozer checked his watch, it was five hours since they got home. Which meant that Mac probably needed painkillers when he woke up. Bozer walked to the counter where he had placed the bag from the pharmacy, he found the correct bottle of pills and shook out two, as was prescribed. Then he filled a tall glass of water and placed the items (along with a note) on the coffee table beside Mac. 

He stood there watching Mac sleep for a minute. His friend had been through more than he could ever imagine, and thinking back, he should probably have caught on to things a little sooner. Preferably without a rent-an-assassin crashing their apartment…    
Yeah… He definitely should have figured it out by all the strange injuries Mac got way more often than a think-tank guy should… And how exceptionally long recovery time some of those injuries had…

Bozer’s stomach chose that moment to make uncomfortable noises, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since before him and Mac had gone out with a couple of other high school buddies (and Jack) to play around with some parkour-moves.

He looked over at Mac again, the man should probably eat something when he woke up too… Whether he was up for it or not…

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Mac woke to the smell of lasagna filling the apartment, it made his mouth water.

He turned his head to look at the table, and saw a post-it hanging on a glass of water,

_‘Take your meds,_  
you’re gonna feel like  
shit if you don’t…’

The corner of Mac’s mouth tugged up in a smile. Mama Bozer could be a bit annoying, but the man sure had his back…

He propped himself up on one elbow and placed the pills in his mouth. Then he took a good sip of the water, and swallowed the medicine. Then he laid back, knowing better than to move straight away.

“Hey, Bo?” he spoke to the room, not sure if Bozer was within speaking distance.

“Yeah!?” the reply came from somewhere near the kitchen. Mac wasn’t surprised.

“You’re the best!” Mac stated.

“Huh?”

“Taking care of me… Making food… Making sure I’m comfortable…” Mac stretched his arms above his head, “You’re the best!”

“Thanks…” Mac could hear the smile in Bozer’s voice. “And dinner will be ready in like five minutes or so… If you think you can have some…”

Mac nodded, then remembered that his head was hidden by the back of the couch. “Think I’ll be hungry when my leg stops aching…”

“Good, cause I made lasagna…”

“Like I said, you’re the best!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… Another chapter done, hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Questions:  
> -Do you want me to fast forward a week or two? Or hang around in ‘newly-injured-land’ for a little while longer?  
> -Do you want Jack to come visit?  
> -Mac to start doubting the state of his leg?


	3. Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… Hey there! It’s me again… Just back with another chapter for you guys…  
> Thanks for all the great comments on my fics so far! It truly warms my heart! THANKS GUYS!  
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> ALSO: This chapter was posted with 2 parts on ff.net. Because I usually post just after I've written something...  
> And the NOTES are basically the same as from ff.net. (I've gotten comments there... Okay?)

“Hey, Bozer! How’s our boy doing?” Jack pressed the phone between his ear and his shoulder. He was busy placing edible treats into his shopping cart.

“Not too good, man…” Bozer sighed. “He’s hurting, he’s grumpy… Downright miserable…”

“He gets that way, you know…”

“Mhmm…”

“But seriously, how bad is he?”

Bozer used a few seconds to evaluate Mac’s state.

“Imagine a hyperactive puppy, chained to a couch and with a cast on one of its legs…”

“Is he in a cast?”

“No… A brace…” Bozer cleared, “Makes him look pretty helpless…”

“Too bad he can’t MacGyver himself out of this situation…”

Bozer chuckled, it was a long time since they had started using Mac’s name as a verb…

“Yeah, I bet that if it was possible, he would have figured it out on our way to the ER…”

“I bet you’re right!” Jack smiled to his phone, tossing a bag of potato chips into his cart. “So… What’s the plan for tonight?”

“I don’t know…” Bozer ran a hand over his short hair. “Distracting Mac? The guy’s hopeless when it comes to resting…”

“I know…” Jack sighed. He had witnessed it a lot of times already… “Hey, want me to come over?”

“Please do! You’re probably more used to an injured Mac than I am…”

“I don’t know about that, but I have usually been around _when_ he gets injured…”

“So… Are you far away?”

“20 minutes, depending on traffic…”

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Jack parked at his usual spot. Took out a bag filled with chips and soda, and headed for the front door.

He walked straight in, family doesn’t knock, and headed for the living room.

“Hey buddy, how are you doing?” he asked as Mac looked over at him.

“Not too bad…”

_Not too bad…_ Jack quickly translated it from ‘MacGyver-talk’ into ‘regular-person-talk’ and came up with: _I’m just short of crying, it hurts so bad…_

“Okay, good…” he knew better than to let Mac know he knew… “I brought snacks… Rams playing Cowboys tonight…”

Mac smiled. “Great, you and Bozer watching Rams vs. Cowboys… You’ve left your guns in the car, right?”

“Haha, very funny…” Jack rolled his eyes as he started unpacking the snacks. “I’ll let you know that I am a mature adult, and I behave…”

“I believe that when I see it…” Bozer said as he entered the room.

“Of course I can…” Jack shrugged as he emptied a bag of chips into a bowl. “As long as you behave, I’ll be a schoolboy!”

“Yeah, that’s not happening…” Mac shot in from the couch, “The two of you should probably have a restraining order against each other during football matches…”

“We’re not that bad..” Bozer argued

“…And basketball matches…”

“Hey, we behave…” Jack shot in.

“Not to speak of hockey and baseball…”

“Alright, he might disagree a bit…” Jack rolled his eyes as he placed two bowls of chips on the coffee table.

“A bit?” Mac echoed.

“Okay, a little more than a bit…” Jack smiled, “But that’s the fun in it, am I right?”

His question was directed at Bozer, who nodded in agreement.

“See…?”

“Okay…” Mac shook his head in defeat.

Mac watched with amusement at how Jack and Bozer cheered energetically for the two teams.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

The game ended, Dallas Cowboys won. Jack gloated, while Bozer scowled at him.

“Okay, now that you’re done hating each other’s team… What do we do now?” Mac asked, hoping for a nice distraction.

“We could watch a movie…” Jack suggested.

“I think I’ve seen too many movies lately…” Mac moaned.

“There’s no such thing as watching too many movies!” Bozer almost shrieked.

“There is such a thing when you can’t do much else…” Mac shrugged back, “Can’t we do something where we actually do something?”

“Like?” Bozer asked.

“A game? Cards? Monopoly? I don’t know…” Mac shrugged.

“Not a bad idea…” Jack nodded, “Poker?”

“I learned a long time ago not to play poker against Mac! Unless I really want to lose money!”

“…Or if you really want to take out the trash…” Mac added, thinking about when they played with household tasks as the stakes.

“Or that…” Bozer agreed. “What about Ligretto?”

Mac hummed, “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“No, Ligretto is not a good idea…” Jack said with a frown, imagining how that would have gone down for Mac.

“Okay… Then what?”

“Go fish?”

“Or PIG?”

“It’s a long time since I’ve played Go Fish! Let’s play that!” Bozer said as he headed off to find a deck of cards.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Bozer re-entered the room and smiled when he saw that Jack had taken his regular job as Mac’s leg-pillow. It was something which happened whenever Mac hurt his legs. Just as common as the fact that water is wet…  
Jack acted as a human pillow for Mac…  
(He hadn’t during the football game, but that was because he knew there would be a lot of moving involved...)

They played for about an hour, before Bozer started seeing clues that Mac’s meds were wearing off.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Jack caught on to it too…

The way the muscles in Mac’s good leg cramped up across his lap, the way the kid leaned more on his elbows than necessary… The way his breathing seemed forced, planned. The way the blond was white-knuckling the cards…

Jack looked over at Bozer. His eyebrows raised, like a ‘you-see-this-too?’ expression. Bozer nodded.

“So… Are your leg bothering you much?” Jack decided to ask, not putting too much in his question.

Mac relaxed just a bit and shook his head. “Not really… Barely feel it…”

Mac talk for _Hell yeah!_

“Are you sure, cause you should have taken your meds half an hour ago…” Bozer said on his way to the kitchen.

“Okay, a bit…”

Those three words almost set off all the alarms in Jack’s mind. The kid almost never admitted to pain, not when he was seated and the injury was immobilized, no… Okay, the young man could sound his discomfort if he had to walk long stretches on crutches shortly after breaking a leg or something like that, or when something jarred… But who wouldn’t?

“What did the doctor say, exactly?” Jack asked nodding to the knee.

“Said I probably just sprained it… The tests they did were negative, nothing on the X-rays…” Mac shrugged, “Probably nothing to worry about…”

_Unless it is something to worry about_ … Echoed in Mac’s brain…

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Mac studied his leg, it was held stiff by the big clumpy brace. He’d had his fair share of time in braces, and this one wasn’t much different from the ones he had used as aid earlier. Only difference was that this one was possibly uglier than the rest… Which said something… But when it came to leg braces, uglier usually meant heavy duty…

It was a lockable brace. It could allow for free range of motion at the knee, or it could be locked in whichever position. Mac’s leg was locked straight.

He cast a glance over the back of the couch. His crutches were laid there, just within his reach. He stretched and picked them up, then he placed them leaned up on the armrest for easier access.

“Going somewhere?” Bozer asked sitting forward in his own chair.

“Bathroom. Have to take a leak…” Mac answered shortly.

“Need any help?”

“Absolutely not…”

“Alright, just checking…”

“I just need a _little_ privacy…”

“I get ya!” Bozer nodded, while Jack fought against the laughter bubbling in his chest.

Mac just nodded and pulled himself a little straighter in his seat. Then he went to lift the leg down from Jack’s lap. He tried his best to ignore that his friends heard him let out a gasp as a lightning bolt seemed to hit the insides of his knee.

“You good son?” Jack’s hand was on his shoulder, his thumb rubbing small circles on the front of it.

Mac gritted his teeth and nodded, “All good…”

“Sure you are…” Jack rolled his eyes. “Sure I can’t help you get up at least?”

Mac held his hand up, declining Jack’s offer. “I can handle it…”

“Oh, I know you can!” Jack shot back, “I just don’t think it’s the best option…”

Bozer nodded.

“Just let me…” Jack began as he placed one hand under Mac’s heel and one a few inches below his knee.

Mac wasn’t quite sure how to respond, so he just let Jack do his thing.

“Tell me if it hurts, alright?” Brown, caring eyes found his.

Mac gave a nod. He was pretty sure it would hurt a whole lot less now that Jack was guiding him, because Jack knew exactly how to hurt people… Therefore he also knew exactly how NOT to hurt people.

“Now we’re going to move your leg. Gently…” Jack still had his eyes locked on Mac’s, as he started guiding the injured leg towards the floor.

Mac let out a small grunt, Jack stopped. “Okay buddy?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Mac ruffled a hand through his own hair.

Jack nodded and continued.

After placing Mac’s foot on the ground, Jack got up and placed an arm around Mac. Not caring when the fresh faced young man beside him tensed up.

“Jack…” Mac started, “What are you doing?...”

“Helping you up, that’s what…”

“I don’t really need that help…”

“I know that…”

“Then why?”

“Because I could…” Jack half-grinned, “Ready? On three…”

“Okay…”

“One, two… Three!”

The two men stood up in unison, and Jack steadied Mac until he was sure the younger man had his balance. Then he picked up the crutches and gave them to Mac.

“Okay, thanks…” Mac smiled, a bit blushed. He felt more comfortable without the excessive help.

_Great, now I have to deal with both Mama Bozer, and Ma Jack…_ Mac thought, balancing on his crutches.

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Mac enjoyed the solitude of the bathroom. It was nice, quiet…  
Aaaand nobody offered him help with every little task. (Something which would have been more than a little uncomfortable to be honest.)

He tried to keep his mind off the burning sensation coming from his knee. The whole situation set him on edge, a sprained knee shouldn’t hurt this much? Should it?  
Sprained things hadn’t hurt this much before…

He had had worse… Cairo for instance, Cairo had hurt worse… Melbourne had been way uncomfortable. Kautokeino had left him unable to anything that required anything of his back for a month…  
Yeah… He had had worse…  
He had…

_But should this really hurt this much? Probably not…_

He used the bathroom furniture as support as he hopped over to the sink. It was enough to make sweat bead on his forehead, but not quite enough to make him short of breath.

_This is ridiculous… I’m acting like my leg is about to fall off… It’s not that bad… Just a bruised or sprained knee, I just need to tough it up… It hurts, a lot. But it’s probably just all in my head… Has to be…_  
-A sprained knee does not hurt this bad!  
I’m just imagining it…

Mac dried his hands on the towel hanging on the wall. He pressed his hands down on the counter top. He gritted his teeth, ready to test himself.

_Only in your head…  
You can use it for support… Just… Ease some weight on to it…_

Mac placed his right foot on the floor. No weight on it. Then he did the jackass move of actually putting some weight on the abused leg, almost causing himself to collapse. He bit back a yelp and a string of cusswords.

His leg seemed to ache a hundred times more, his vision seemed to tunnel… He felt light-headed…  
He had to sit down…

The edge of the bathing tub would do… He reached out and lowered himself onto it. His right leg felt WRONG. All capital letters…

_Okay… Maybe it’s real after all…_  
Why did I even try?  
-Because that’s what I do… I always test if things are possible… 

Mac sat doubled over, his right leg outstretched resting on top of his left. His hands were steadying the knee. He still wasn’t sure if he was going to faint or not.

Minutes passed before he was ready to straighten up, and attempt to get back to the living room.

_I really screwed my knee up, didn’t I?_

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

He used at least twice the time to get back to the couch. He was real cautious of his leg, careful not to jostle it in any way.

He reached the couch, but didn’t sit down.

“Dude…” Jack looked up at Mac, “Sit down!”

Mac stayed standing, taking a few seconds to man up to speaking his next words.

“I might need help with that…” his eyes were glued to the floor.

Jack looked at him with big round eyes, and Bozer’s mouth was hanging open.

“What?”

“I’m gonna need some help with that…” Mac repeated.

“Oh crap, man! Are you okay?”

Mac dipped his chin up and down in a nod. “Yeah, just miscalculated how exhausted I’d be from that short walk…”

Jack got up and stood next to Mac, relieved him of his crutches and ducked under Mac’s left arm.

“Ready?” he asked, and waited to feel Mac nod next to him. “Nice and easy…”

MACGYVER2016MACGYVER2016

Jack’s heart shattered as Mac let out a ripping scream. It was even worse when Mac was seated on the couch and Jack saw how Mac’s eyes had watered up.

“Mac…” Jack felt his voice tremble. “Sure you don’t need to go to the doc? Get a second opinion?”

Mac grimaced, his knee felt like someone had tried to turn it inside out. He was nauseous. He was crying…

Jack wiped away one of the tears running down Mac’s cheek. “What do ya think?”

“I think that’s a great idea…” Bozer shot in, he had been worried about Mac’s leg since the day before. He had heard a sound no body should make. It was like someone had held a pencil up against a microphone and snapped it in half.

“It can wait until tomorrow morning…” Mac half stated, half pleaded.

“Mac, you’re in pain…” Jack had his hand on Mac’s shoulder. “And I’m not talking ‘bout cute little road rash kinda pain here… Isn’t it better that we get that fixed up as fast as possible?”

“It isn’t going to make a difference whether I go in now or in the morning…” Mac said and let his head fall back against the top of the couch.

Jack nodded, he knew that Mac was right, there wasn’t much of a difference between now and later.

“Okay, tomorrow…” Jack agreed as he stood back up. “You want your leg up?”

Mac nodded. His knee was pounding against his skin, and elevation might offer a tiny bit of relief.

Jack helped Mac get settled, with his leg on top of a stack of pillows. He had placed Mac’s leg on top off the pillows with a promise that he would get back to the couch after a short bathroom break for himself.

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The next morning at 5:58 a.m. Jack woke up with the stiffest of all necks. And Mac’s legs on his lap.

He rubbed his eyes, then his neck, before he looked over at his sleeping friend.

Twenty minutes later, Mac’s eyes started fluttering open.

“Oh, crap…” was Mac’s first words for the day, quickly followed by “What did I do to my fucking leg?”

Jack watched with amusement as the younger man started regaining his consciousness.

“That’s what we’re going to find an answer to at the hospital today,,,” Jack spoke softly, not to startle his buddy. “I guess it hurts…?”

“More than just a little…” Mac revealed. “Think I did a real number on it this time…”

Jack nodded, more than a little concerned about his friend. It wasn’t like Mac to just go ahead and speak truthfully about how bad something was.

“It’ll get better, trust me…”

Mac nodded, and looked over at the now semi-empty coffee table. The only things on it was Mac’s pills set out for him.

“Say we go to the hospital in like 40 minutes?” Mac asked picking up the meds.

“Sure, whenever you’re ready…” Jack nodded from the other end of the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that ended up as a really long chapter…  
> Hope you had a good time reading it.  
> Thanks for all the comments so far! *happydance*  
> See you soon!


	4. 2nd opinion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, back again.

“The doctor who saw you first didn’t notice this?” the doctor asked and pointed to the X-rays.

“Obviously not…” Mac answered.

“But he did take pictures of your knee?”

Mac nodded.

The doctor focused on the pictures on his computer.

“You have torn something inside your knee. Normally that wouldn’t show up on X-rays, but when it happens like this, it does…” The doc pointed to something on the screen. “See these white speckles here?”

“Yeah, I do…”

“Well, that’s bone. And it’s not where it’s supposed to be… It’s likely that you’ve torn your ACL or PCL close to one of the anchors. The tear must have pulled lose some bone too, I bet you’ve been in a lot of pain…”

“A fair amount…”

“I can’t tell you exactly what’s wrong before we have an MRI taken, but I can tell you that you require surgery. It could have been possible for you to live a decent life with both a torn ACL and PCL, _if_ there were no damage to the bone or cartilage as well…” The doctor focused on him, “But because of the bone fragments inside your knee, we have to go in and clean that out… And since we’re already in there, it would be beneficial to reconstruct your cruciate ligaments…”

Mac nodded. He understood what the doctor told him, he’d been through this before. Sort of…

Cairo, a couple of years ago… He had been shot in the thigh, and when he went down, he had thorn pretty much everything in his knee as well…

“So…? How long before I can have the surgery?”

“How is Tuesday for you?”

“Tomorrow?”

The doctor nodded.

“Sure…”

“Okay, then you stay here overnight, the anesthesiologist and the surgeon will have to have a talk with you… Then tomorrow, everything will be ready for your surgery, and you’ll be on your road to recovery…”

“Okay, that sounds good.”

“Good… Here’s a few forms I’d like you to fill out...” he handed Mac a pen, “Just give them to the nurse outside.”

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it...


	5. Surgery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!

“I’m administering something to relieve the pain now…” the anesthesiologist informed, and hooked something to the cannula in his hand.

It only took a few seconds before Mac felt loopy.

“So… This gonna knock me out?” he giggled.

“No, that comes later… This is just to make sure you don’t feel a thing during the surgery… If the main narcotic should fail at that.”

“Okay… That’s good…” Mac giggled some more, understanding that he had no control over the matter. “Sorry, I’m laughing… There isn’t anything hilarious about this… I know… I just can’t stop…”

“Oh, that’s not uncommon…” she smiled. “Don’t you worry ‘bout it…”

Her smile sent Mac out in a fit of laughter.  

“Okay, but now I’ve given you the main narcotic… So you’ll sleep soon…”

“it feels funny…” Mac commented, laughing. “Like…”

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Yeah… The first thing that registered was pain. He couldn’t call himself fully awake yet, but there was a pain somewhere near his knee… Not major, but enough to assure him that keeping still was key…

There were voices. Probably directed to him. He wasn’t sure yet… But he knew he would have to keep from moving for a while more.

After a while he realized his bed was tilted at an angle, and that he was sitting up. _Weird, he hadn’t noticed that a few minutes ago… Or was it an half hour? He didn’t really care._

Finally his eyes cooperated, and he stared into a room where he and five others were busy waking up from surgery.

He glanced at the monitor beside him. His blood pressure read 135/87. A lot better than when he was admitted earlier. His heartrate was a steady 57, according to a resting heartrate scale he had seen a few weeks ago, that put him somewhere around excellent or athlete… Okay, he kinda was an athlete… Working as a field agent in the Phoenix Foundation kinda meant you had to stay fit. Fitter than most at least…   
The other numbers he didn’t really understand.

He looked down on his other arm. The one with the tag around. His ID-number on the first line, his full name on the second… His address on the next two lines. He studied his hand for a long while, basically tripping on the looks of it. His prints, the crisscross of old faded scars… It was interesting…

Then… Suddenly he woke up again.   
He hadn’t noticed that he drifted off, but his head was a lot clearer and his leg ached a little more. Still not enough to really fuzz about…

“Mr. MacGyver…” some nurse spoke, “How are you feeling?”

“Like my teeth grew fur…” Mac answered, “Thirsty… Other than that… Fine…”

The nurse nodded, “I’ll get something for you…”

“Thanks...”

He drank eagerly until the plastic cup was empty, then the nurse filled the cup for him again, and he drank about half of it.

“You’re an angel…” he smiled at the young nurse.

“Comes with the scrubs…” she winked and straightened her uniform. “Is there anything else I can do for you? Are you in pain?”

“Not yet…” Mac reassured her, the ache in his knee wasn’t more than he could handle. “But, thank you…”

“No problem…” she answered with a caring smile. “Just use the signal if you need anything…”

Mac nodded, he didn’t plan to use the signal just yet. Not before it was necessary. He didn’t want to be a burden.

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An hour later he was back at his own room at the hospital. He was still in the angled bed, and his legs were out in front of him. His right leg had a pantyhose like thing around it, under it he could clearly see the bandages covering the incisions. He had obviously bled a bit, because the support stocking was colored with watery blood. But the bandages itself were clean enough.

He had an ice-pack cuff laid out beside his newly fixed knee, and was getting a crash-course in how to change the ice-packs.

“Are you hungry?” the nurse asked once he had proven that he could assemble the cold cuff.

“Yes, very…” Mac answered. He was. He hadn’t really been hungry since he wrecked his knee, but whatever they pumped him full of made him hungry. And the penicillin left him a weird taste in his mouth.

“That’s good. How ‘bout sandwich with ham and cheese? Does that sound good?”

Mac nodded.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Water…” Mac answered without thinking. “Errr… Wait… Do you have apple juice?”

The nurse nodded.

“Could I get a glass of that too then?” Mac set up one of his most charming smiles.

“Of course you can!” the nurse nodded, as she helped Mac reposition his leg.

Then she headed out the door and came back a few minutes later with a tray with a ham and cheese sandwich and two glasses.

Mac thanked her as she placed the contents on the table beside him. He started eating the sandwich even before she left his room.  

“Thank you! It tastes great!” he grinned as she was about to leave his room again.


	6. PostOp Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I’m back with another part to this story…
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and encouraging words! (ff.net)

 

The next couple of hours consisted of reading and playing games on his phone. And waiting for dinnertime to come around.

His leg was sore and stiff, and he still wasn’t sure of how much he was allowed to do. If he was allowed to bend and flex his knee, or if he was allowed to put some weight on his leg. Until further notice, he would play it safe and act like most things were off limits. But wiggling his toes had to be okay.

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“Hey… You think I can go up to the cafeteria when it’s dinner time?” Mac asked as the nurse hooked him up to another helping of penicillin.

The nurse nodded. “Shouldn’t be anything wrong with that…”

“Good, cause I feel like I’m getting cabin-fever here…”

“Don’t like being cooped up, do you?”

Mac shook his head, “No…”

Mac looked over at the crutches Bozer had brought for him. Unfortunately it was the crutches from the time he broke his leg in Switzerland. Forearm crutches… Flimsy handles and cuffs. He remembered that when he used them, it felt like they would buckle at any moment.

“By the way… The crutches my buddy brought me, they are the worst he could possibly find back home…” Mac ran a hand through his hair, “Could I borrow a wheelchair?”

She looked at the crutches, then she nodded.                                               

“Forearm crutches? I don’t see that too often… Where did you even get those?”

“Switzerland. Broke my leg doing something I probably shouldn’t have…”

The nurse chuckled, “Okay, I’ll find a chair for you…”

“Thank you…”

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Mac wheeled in to the cafeteria a couple of minutes after it had opened for dinner. He placed a few potatoes and two slices of some kind of ham on his plate, then he loaded it up with cooked vegetables.

He placed the plate on his lap and made his way over to a free table. He sat alone for a couple of minutes before a young man came over and asked if he may sit down. Mac nodded, and told the young man that ‘of course, he could sit down’.

“So... Haven’t seen you around here before…” the other man started.

“Arrived yesterday, had surgery this morning…” Mac revealed.

“Leg or legs I suppose…”

“Knee…” Mac nodded. “Blew my ACL out…”

The other guy grimaced. “Sounds painful…”

Mac nodded. “Yeah, it was this time…”

“This time?”

“Second time I’ve done it…”

“Less painful last time you did it?”

“Not really, but then I had so many other injuries I couldn’t tell which was hurting…”

“What kind of injuries?”

“All sorts, I guess… Torn muscle, ligaments, cartilage, fractures…”

“Damn man! How did you do that?” the other guy tilted his head.

Mac didn’t answer straight away.

“Let’s just say it was work related…” Mac finally settled for. “How ‘bout you? Stuck here for a while?”

“Been here for eleven straight days now.”

“That’s a long time…”

The guy nodded.

“Injury?”

The guy shook his head. “Nah… Biologically I was born a woman…”

Mac was a bit surprised by the last bit of information. If he had thought specifically about that, he might have guessed it. But the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, had my uterus removed a couple of weeks ago, got to go home… But then I came down with a bad infection…”

“That sounds like a buzzkill…”

The guy nodded. “Yeah…”

“But you’re getting better now?”

“Almost ready to go home again.”

“That’s great news!”

The other guy nodded. “And you? Do you know when you’re being released?”

“Before the surgery, they talked about today… But it’s 5 p.m. and I haven’t met with the surgeon or the PT yet… So I’m guessing that tomorrow is my day…”

“Let’s hope so…”

Mac nodded. “I sure hope so… And I hope my roomie comes here with a regular pair of crutches too…”

“Hmmm?”

“In the hassle of driving me here yesterday, he only found the forearm crutches we had laying around…”

“They are difficult to walk with, right?”

“Well, if the plastic they used for the handles and the parts that wrap around your forearm were a little sturdier, it would be no problem…”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, I’ve tried other forearm crutches too… They were a lot better…”

“So I shouldn’t write off forearm crutches just yet?”

“No… But the so called ergonomically fitted pair I’ve got, they are trash…”

The other guy chuckled. Then he placed his hand on his lower abdomen, pressing down.

“Oh, I really shouldn’t laugh…”

“It hurts?”

The guy nodded.

“It’s a pretty big surgery, isn’t it?” Mac asked.

“Yeah, they basically remove an organ… So it’s not just a cut and a few stitches…”

“Ouch…” Mac grimaced, imagining what kind of pain the other guy must have gone through… “I didn’t catch your name, did you mention it?”

“Oh, no… I’m sorry… My name’s Allan, Allan Olson…”

“Nice to meet you…” Mac stretched over the table to shake Allan’s hand. “My name is MacGyver.”

“Just MacGyver?”

“Angus…” Mac muttered, “People just call me MacGyver, or Mac…”

The other guy nodded. “Good to meet you…”

All of the sudden the phone Mac carried around buzzed. He had been ordered to carry the phone from his room around with him whenever he left it.

“Yeah, this is MacGyver…” he answered.

“Hi, this is Annie from the patient hotel on the 4th floor. Are you in your room now?”

“No… I’m in the cafeteria…”

“Okay, see… We’d like to take a few blood samples from you, and it’s almost time for your third dose of penicillin…” the woman explained.

“So you want me to come downstairs?”

“Yes please. When you’re done eating…”

“Oh, I just finished up… I’ll be right down…” Mac smiled and placed the now empty plate in his lap, then wheeled over to the place where he was supposed to deposit the used cutlery.

“Hey, nice to meet you…” Mac nodded to the other guy, “And good luck with the future…”

“Thanks Mac, hope you get well soon!”

“See you around!”

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He went back to his room, and they drew some blood from the cannula on his hand. After that, they hooked the penicillin on to the easy access to his veins.

Then his life consisted of books and mobile games again. At least until Jack, Bozer and Riley came for a visit.


	7. Sit your ass down!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so not the longest of all chapters. I know… But I needed some time to pass, and I got this idea…

Mac had been home for a week, it was eight days since his operation. He was allowed to put full weight on the leg, and was encouraged to bend and extend the knee multiple times a day. And if he managed to walk, there was no wrong with that… He should try, but if he limped too much, he should use his crutches.

But his leg was swollen, and the muscle at the back of his leg hurt like crazy. And when he walked, he felt like a 90-something-year-old lady with arthritis. He walked about just as fast.

“Mac, how’s the knee?” Bozer asked as he came back from work. “Sure you shouldn’t be using your crutches?”

Mac glared over with steel blue eyes.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“I almost  wondered if some grandpa had done a little B&E here, then I remembered that my superspy roomie is on sick-leave because of his knee surgery.”

“Ha-ha… Very funny…”

“Come on, it’s hella funny!”

“Nope.”

“Yeah, but it is…” Bozer smiled. “So, you want me to cook dinner? Or are you already making something?”

“Nope, not messing with your kitchen…”

“Good roomie!” Bozer grinned. “Now, sit your ass on the couch. Elevate your leg. Dinner will be ready in 40 minutes…”

“I don’t need to sit down…”

“Yeah, by looking at how your jeans are stretching over your right leg, you need to sit down and keep your leg up.”

Mac looked down to see one of his pant legs hanging lose around his left leg, and the fabric stretching over his right one.

“How is the bruising by the way?”

“Awesome…” Mac looked grimly, “It’s every color beneath the sun, and it stretches all the way from my knee down to my toes.”

“Is it supposed to do that?”

“Well, it follows the gravity.”  Mac shrugged, “You should have seen my leg when they changed the cast after the Cairo incident.”

“First of all… Thanks for referring to the time you got shot in the leg as an incident. Second, NO. I am SO thankful that I didn’t see your leg after that! Now that you’ve started wearing shorts around me again, I get to see that ugly ass scar more than I’d like. It looks like it still hurts, gives me the creeps!”

“Well, it doesn’t hurt on a regular basis…”

“It looks that way, okay?”

“I can stop wearing shorts again…”

“Nu-uh…” Bozer shook his head, “You don’t have to do that… I’ve just got to learn how to look at it and not mentally connect it to something that could have killed you…”

“Okay, so…?”

“Just give a brother some time to get used to it…”

Mac nodded.

“And sit your ass down in that couch! Your leg needs rest!”

Mac raised his hands in surrender, and made his way over to the couch.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the story so far…  
> And thanks for the challenge!


End file.
